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hrasmus

Q: Opening MacWrite documents created on Powerbook 3400 on my new macbook

I have successfully moved my old files to my new macbook from my old powerbook 3400 now. i was attempting to open them all and convert them into microsoft word files, as I have the office suite on the old 3400, however it is a slow, slow dinosaur and I spent three hours just opening 5 documents and saving them as microsoft word files. So I have tried to skip that phase and transfer them to the new macbook, now when I try to open those that were created in MacWrite they translate into what I call gobblety-gook. Just a bunch of gibberish I can't make out. ANY suggestions on how I can migrate these into microsoft work documents I can actually read and use?

thanks.

macbook, Mac OS X (10.5.1)

Posted on Jul 20, 2008 4:17 PM

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Q: Opening MacWrite documents created on Powerbook 3400 on my new macbook

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  • by jpl,Solvedanswer

    jpl jpl Jul 20, 2008 7:59 PM in response to hrasmus
    Level 7 (28,285 points)
    Jul 20, 2008 7:59 PM in response to hrasmus
    hrasmus,

    This may not be helpful, but have you tried opening the MacWrite files which are now on your MacBook with Apple's powerful TextEdit application? If successful, you should be able to then convert to MS.

    This may also be helpful:
    http://www.applelinks.com/index.php/more/applesfree_word_processor_may_be_all_youneed/
  • by hrasmus,

    hrasmus hrasmus Jul 20, 2008 8:16 PM in response to jpl
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 20, 2008 8:16 PM in response to jpl
    I have tried the text edit/apple script and it does not work either. Such a bummer. I have tried everything. Only thing I can think of is to buy MacLinkPlus-the new version says it can convert. But it is expensive and I won't need it after I migrate all of these files. So it will not be worth much to me then. The conversion of the files on the old 3400 takes forever-like 3 hours just to 'save as' to a Word document for 5 documents that were created in MacWrite.
  • by Jan Hedlund,

    Jan Hedlund Jan Hedlund Jul 21, 2008 6:11 AM in response to hrasmus
    Level 6 (9,889 points)
    Jul 21, 2008 6:11 AM in response to hrasmus
    i was attempting to open them all and convert them into microsoft word files, as I have the office suite on the old 3400, however it is a slow, slow dinosaur and I spent three hours just opening 5 documents and saving them as microsoft word files.


    Were you using one of the MacWrite versions (the Save As dialogue) to convert the documents into a Word format, or did the conversion from a MacWrite format take place directly in said office suite (Word)?

    Since the documents appear to be rather large, have you tried to assign more memory to each word processing application involved on the PowerBook 3400?

    Saving a document as plain Text would limit the file size and could probably speed up the process.

    One can also move entire texts in memory (Select All and Copy from the original, then Paste into the target document).

    Jan
  • by hrasmus,

    hrasmus hrasmus Jul 24, 2008 6:01 PM in response to Jan Hedlund
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 24, 2008 6:01 PM in response to Jan Hedlund
    I opened them in Macwrite and then did the Save As dialog box and chose the option to save as a Word Doc. These are not large files at all. Just text files ranging from 2 to 20 pages. Problem is the computer is slow in opening them it takes forever to do a save as and move to the next.
  • by hrasmus,

    hrasmus hrasmus Jul 24, 2008 6:45 PM in response to hrasmus
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 24, 2008 6:45 PM in response to hrasmus
    Okay,

    So I downloaded a free 30-day trial of iWork to try to get these documents to open. It will not even recognize the old MacWrite docs. Is there something I am missing? Someone told me that would work.
  • by jpl,

    jpl jpl Jul 24, 2008 7:39 PM in response to hrasmus
    Level 7 (28,285 points)
    Jul 24, 2008 7:39 PM in response to hrasmus
    hrasmus,

    You might also post a summary of your problem over on the AppleWorks Discussions; there are a lot of contributors who have used all of these text apps and may have a workable solution.

    http://discussions.apple.com/forum.jspa?forumID=1004
  • by Jan Hedlund,

    Jan Hedlund Jan Hedlund Jul 24, 2008 9:08 PM in response to hrasmus
    Level 6 (9,889 points)
    Jul 24, 2008 9:08 PM in response to hrasmus
    Hi,

    I opened them in Macwrite and then did the Save As dialog box and chose the option to save as a Word Doc.


    Any difference if you save as (for example) plain Text?

    These are not large files at all. Just text files ranging from 2 to 20 pages. Problem is the computer is slow in opening them it takes forever to do a save as and move to the next.


    This is not normal. Is there a speed problem with all programs on that PowerBook 3400? How much memory is installed (About This... under the Apple menu)? Although it should not be necessary in this case, have you tried allocating more memory to the word processing application (select the program icon, choose Get Info)?

    Jan
  • by hrasmus,

    hrasmus hrasmus Aug 1, 2008 11:31 AM in response to Jan Hedlund
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 1, 2008 11:31 AM in response to Jan Hedlund
    Jan,

    I have not tried save as a text document. they will open fine if I save them as a word doc. Problem is it just takes so long to open and save them all. And I have tried allocating more memory to the program. Problem is now I get a memory error type 2. So i am stuck.
  • by Jan Hedlund,

    Jan Hedlund Jan Hedlund Aug 2, 2008 2:50 AM in response to hrasmus
    Level 6 (9,889 points)
    Aug 2, 2008 2:50 AM in response to hrasmus
    I have not tried save as a text document. they will open fine if I save them as a word doc. Problem is it just takes so long to open and save them all.


    The idea behind saving as a plain Text file (if your original application allows/offers that) was to try to speed up the process at all later stages (and, possibly, avoid having to use the Office package at the PB 3400 for any resaving). Text files could be transferred as they are to the new Mac, and opened there. The original document formatting would have been lost, but that may not be too difficult to recreate; the most important thing is often to bring the text mass over to the new machine.

    And I have tried allocating more memory to the program.


    To MacWrite? Version? How much was allocated via Get Info?

    Also, how much memory (RAM) is installed in the PB 3400? What about the Memory control panel (Virtual Memory setting)?

    Problem is now I get a memory error type 2


    See above. Also, does Disk First Aid report anything unusual about the hard disk's file structure?

    Jan
  • by jpl,

    jpl jpl Aug 2, 2008 9:17 AM in response to hrasmus
    Level 7 (28,285 points)
    Aug 2, 2008 9:17 AM in response to hrasmus
    hrasmus,

    Here is an explanation of Type 2 errors:
    http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=12670